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The effects of climate change on the permafrost in Greenland mean that many historical sites will be lost Archaeologists from the National Museum in Greenland have warned that the permafrost currently protecting many historical sites, will begin to thaw, leaving the sites open to the elements.

They fear that climate change will speed up the thawing process and many historical sites, such as Viking settlements and Inuit kitchen middens in western Greenland, will be destroyed.

The National Museum in Nuuk has begun an intensive effort to study and catalogue the cultural heritage before the organic material is lost to the elements.

We are in a race against time when it comes to climate change. The rising temperatures will influence what Greenlandic heritage we can preserve. We want to find out what condition the middens are in and, at the same time, obtain new knowledge about our history.

archaeologist Claus Andreasen told Berlingske Tidende newspaper.

The middens are up to 4500 years old and originate from the first cultures that colonised Greenland from the North American continent - the Saqqaq, Dorset and Thule cultures.

They contain remains of bones, hides and waste, which can give a more detailed picture of life of the first Greenlanders.

Archaeologists investigating the Vesterbygden Viking settlement at Godthåbsfjorden say it is close enough to the inland ice to remain intact for now, but “they must find out what the status of the ice is‘”.

Vesterbygden is one of three large Viking settlements in Greenland dating back to the end of the tenth century. At one time it included 90 large farms and a number of churches, but it was abandoned about 350 years later, presumably due to environmental and climatic conditions.

Andreasen said that the disappearing drift ice will heighten the risk of wave erosion along the coasts.

There are dramatic changes in some of the important historical sites in eastern Greenland. It is surprising how fast the middens are disappearing into the sea.

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